CN113436377A

CN113436377A - System, method and computer program for an access control system

Info

Publication number: CN113436377A
Application number: CN202110389960.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: A·卡兰; G·A·拉列京; K·J·沃尔什
Original assignee: Tim Ai Capital Australia Holdings Ltd
Current assignee: Tim Ai Capital Australia Holdings Ltd; Tma Capital Australia Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2015-02-02
Filing date: 2016-01-12
Publication date: 2021-09-24
Also published as: AU2021200084B2; JP2018505503A; AU2023208192B2; TW201640450A; SG10201809510XA; CA2980476C; AU2016214965A1; TW202030700A; EA201791654A1; BR112017016648A2; TWI747260B; CA2980476A1; KR20170115073A; CN107430793A; US11043052B2; CN107430793B; NZ734666A; EP3254263A1; AU2023208192A1; WO2016123662A1

Abstract

A system, method, mobile communication device and one or more computer programs for an access control system for controlling access to a restricted area. In one form, the restricted area is a parking lot. In one aspect, the system includes: a communication system; and a computer program executable by a mobile communication device configured to: receiving one or more incoming signals from the communication system when the entity is near an entry point of the restricted area; communicating an entry request to a communication system; receiving authorization data from the communication system indicating that the entity is granted access by the access control system to access the restricted area; receiving one or more exit signals from the communication system when the entity is near an exit point of the restricted area; and communicating an exit request indicating the authorization data to the communication system to exit the restricted area.

Description

System, method and computer program for an access control system

The present application is a divisional application of chinese patent application 201680020982.8 entitled "system, method and computer program for a door access control system" filed on 2016, month 1, and day 12.

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims priority to australian provisional patent application No.2015900302 and australian innovation patent application No.2015100112, both filed on 2.2.2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present invention is directed to a system, method, mobile communication device and one or more computer programs for an access control system for controlling access to a restricted area. In one exemplary form, an access control system controls access to a vehicle parking area.

Background

When a vehicle driver wishes to park their vehicle in a parking lot, a physical ticket is issued to the driver at the entry point when access to the parking lot is granted. The driver may then present the ticket to a payment machine to pay for the time the vehicle has been parked in the parking lot. The ticket is then presented to another ticket machine at the exit point to be allowed to exit the parking lot. Such ticketing systems have numerous problems. For example, due to the design of particular vehicles and parking lots, some drivers find it difficult to take a ticket from a ticket dispenser at an entry point or insert a ticket for reading by a ticket reader at an exit point without leaving the vehicle. Generally, the driver may also attempt to hold/find the ticket while driving in the parking lot, which may distract the driver and may lead to accidents. Furthermore, if the ticket is lost by the driver, the driver is typically required to pay a full fee to exit the parking lot. In addition, in a busy parking lot, there may be a large number of drivers queuing up at the payment machines to pay their respective parking fees. Furthermore, in busy parking lots there may be significant queuing at ticket dispensers and ticket readers due to the time taken and inserted by the driver.

Other problems exist for other applications where access to restricted areas is desired using an access control system.

For example, a residential/commercial building may have an access control system for a residential parking lot that can be activated by using a hand-held radio transmitter or proximity sensor card to open a gate, a tambour door, or the like. Because some drivers often attempt to locate a radio transmitter or sensor card before approaching the gate/door while driving in order to speed up the access process, the drivers often become distracted, which can lead to accidents. Furthermore, if a new user wishes to access a restricted parking area, it may be necessary to order a new handheld transmitter or proximity sensor card, especially if the access control system is a proprietary system.

In connection with building access control systems, a user may be required to carry an identification device, such as a proximity sensor card or the like, which can be read by a reading device in order to access a control door or the like to be opened. However, a large number of users tend to store their identification devices in a bag or purse, which in some cases must be removed for reading. This can be frustrating and time consuming for the user. In addition, because users often carry a lot of things while traveling through such access control doors, it is frustrating that users need to carry with them a dedicated device when attempting to access the restricted area, among other things.

There is therefore a need to mitigate one or more of the above-mentioned problems or to provide a commercial alternative.

The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to anything known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission that the prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field relevant to the description.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect, a system is provided, comprising:

a communication system; and

a computer program executable by a mobile communication device associated with an entity, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to:

receiving one or more incoming signals from the communication system when the entity is near an entry point of the restricted area;

generating and communicating an entry request to the communication system in response to receiving at least some of the one or more entry signals;

receiving authorization data from the communication system indicating that the entity is granted access by the access control system to access the restricted area;

receiving one or more exit signals from the communication system when the entity is near an exit point of the restricted area; and

in response to receiving at least some of the one or more exit signals, an exit request indicative of authorization data is generated and communicated to the communication system to exit the restricted area.

In certain embodiments, the communication system comprises at least one of:

a first ingress communication device comprising a first directional antenna to define a focused ingress signal transmission zone, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to generate and communicate an ingress request in response to determining that at least some of the one or more ingress signals satisfy one or more ingress criteria indicative of the focused ingress signal transmission zone; and

a first exit communication device comprising a second directional antenna to define a focused exit signal transmission zone, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to generate and communicate an exit request in response to determining that at least some of the one or more exit signals satisfy one or more exit criteria indicative of the focused exit signal transmission zone.

In certain embodiments, the directional antenna of at least one of the first ingress communication device and the first egress communication device is a parabolic antenna.

In certain embodiments, the system comprises a server processing system and a data store accessible by the access control system, wherein:

the server processing system is configured to:

generating key data associated with an entity;

passing the key data to the mobile communication device for storage in the memory;

storing the key data in a data store;

wherein each entry and exit request generated by the mobile communication device indicates a key from the key data, wherein the key is used by a door control processing system of the door control system to query the data store to verify the validity of the entry request or the exit request.

In certain embodiments, at least one of the entry request and the exit request indicates an entity identity and a hashed entity identity to enable the access control system to verify validity of the entry request and the exit request based on the data store and the device-specific information for the mobile communication device.

In some embodiments, the communication system communicates with the mobile communication device using a bluetooth low energy protocol.

In some embodiments, the mobile communication device is configured to:

determining a received signal strength of one or more incoming signals; and

determining whether one or more entry criteria have been met to generate and communicate an entry request based, at least in part, on received signal strengths of one or more entry signals.

In some embodiments, the mobile communication device is configured to:

determining a received signal strength of one or more exit signals; and

determining whether one or more exit criteria have been met to generate and communicate an exit request based, at least in part, on received signal strengths of one or more exit signals.

In some embodiments, the confinement region is one of:

a motor vehicle parking zone, wherein an entity is a user associated with a vehicle parked within the motor vehicle parking zone; and

a portion of a building where the entity is a user attempting to access the portion of the building.

In some embodiments, at least one of an entry request and an exit request generated by a mobile communication device indicates one or more wireless devices to which the mobile communication device is currently connected, wherein if the communication system receives data indicative of a plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests received from a plurality of mobile communication devices, the one or more connected wireless devices indicated by the at least one of an entry request or an exit request are used to at least partially determine which entry or exit request from the plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests to process.

In certain embodiments, the communication system comprises at least one of:

a set of portal transmitters comprising a first portal transmitter and a second portal transmitter, each portal transmitter being offset in position relative to a center of the entry path; and

a set of exit transmitters comprising a first exit transmitter and a second exit transmitter, each exit transmitter offset in position relative to a center of the exit path;

wherein at least one of the entry request and the exit request generated by the mobile communication device indicates a relative location of the mobile communication device within the vehicle based on received signal strengths of one or more entry signals or one or more exit signals generated by the set of entry or exit transmitters, wherein if the communication system receives a plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests from a plurality of mobile communication devices, the relative location is used to at least partially determine which of the plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests to process.

In certain embodiments, the communication system comprises at least one of:

an ingress transmitter configured to transmit one or more further incoming signals;

an egress transmitter configured to transmit one or more further exit signals;

wherein the mobile communication device is configured by the computer program to:

determining a scaling value based on a peak power of the received further entry or exit signal;

determining one or more scaled power values for one or more received entry or exit signals;

wherein the one or more entry or exit criteria indicate that a rate of increase of the one or more scaled power values of at least some of the one or more received entry or exit signals equals or exceeds an increase rate threshold.

In some embodiments, the mobile communication device is configured to automatically communicate at least one of the entry request and the exit request without user interaction.

In another aspect, there is provided a computer program for execution by a mobile communication device, wherein the computer program configures the mobile communication device to:

receiving one or more incoming signals from the communication system when the user approaches an entry point of the restricted area;

generating and communicating an entry request to the communication system after receiving the one or more entry signals;

receiving authorization data from the communication system indicating that the user is granted access by the access control system to access the restricted area;

receiving one or more exit signals from the communication system when the user approaches an exit point of the restricted area; and

upon receipt of the one or more exit signals, an exit request indicative of authorization data is generated and communicated to the communication system for processing by the access control system to enable the user to exit the restricted area.

In another aspect, a system is provided, comprising:

at least one communication device associated with an entry point of the restricted area;

a computer program executed by a mobile communication device associated with an entity, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to:

receiving one or more incoming signals generated by the communication device when the entity is near an entry point of the restricted area;

generating and communicating an entry request in response to receiving at least some of the one or more entry signals;

the one or more processing systems are configured to:

receiving an entry request;

processing the entry request to determine whether to allow the entity to enter the restricted area;

an access control component is facilitated that instructs the restricted area to allow the entity to enter the restricted area.

In some embodiments, the system comprises at least one further communication device associated with an exit point of the restricted area, wherein the mobile communication device is configured by the computer program to:

receiving one or more exit signals generated by at least one further communication device when the entity approaches an exit point of the restricted area;

generating and communicating an exit request in response to receiving at least some of the one or more exit signals; and

wherein the one or more processing systems are configured to:

receiving an exit request;

processing the exit request to determine whether the entity is allowed to exit the restricted area;

further access control components that direct the restricted area to allow the entity to exit the restricted area are facilitated.

In another aspect, a system is provided, comprising:

a communication system including a first communication device and a second communication device; and

receiving one or more first signals from a first communication device associated with an access point of a restricted area;

receiving one or more second signals from a second communication device associated with an access point of the restricted area;

if one or more criteria are satisfied based at least in part on the received signal strengths of the one or more first signals and the received signal strengths of the one or more second signals, an access request is generated and communicated to enable the access control system to grant access to the restricted area.

In some embodiments, the mobile communication device is configured by the computer program to:

determining a plurality of first power values based on received signal strengths of a plurality of first signals;

determining a scaling value based on a magnitude of at least some of the plurality of first power values; and

determining a plurality of scaled power values based on the scaling value and received signal strengths of the plurality of second signals;

wherein the one or more criteria depend, at least in part, on one or more scaled power values that are based, at least in part, on received signal strengths of the plurality of second signals.

In some embodiments, the mobile communication device determines the scaling value based on a magnitude of one of the first power values having a maximum power value compared to other ones of the first power values.

In some embodiments, the mobile communication device dynamically determines a baseline scaled power value based on at least some of the plurality of scaled power values in response to receiving each second signal, wherein the one or more incoming signal criteria are met when a scaled power increase rate for one of the scaled power values related to the baseline scaled power value is equal to or greater than a threshold scaled power increase rate.

In certain embodiments, if the scaled power increase rate is not equal to or greater than the threshold scaled power increase rate, the mobile processing system is configured to determine whether one or more consecutive scaled power values for a threshold time period are greater than or equal to a threshold scaled power value, wherein the access request is communicated by the mobile communication device in response to a positive determination.

Other aspects and embodiments will be apparent from the detailed description.

Drawings

The exemplary embodiments should become apparent from the following description, which is given by way of example only of at least one preferred but non-limiting embodiment and which is described in connection with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of an example processing device that may be used to implement or carry out certain embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example network infrastructure that may be used to implement or carry out particular embodiments;

fig. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example system for an access control system for a parking lot;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart representative of a method performed by the system of FIG. 3;

fig. 5 illustrates an isometric view of an example of an ingress or egress communication device body;

fig. 6 illustrates a perspective elevation view of an example of a portion of an ingress or egress communication device;

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective side view of a portion of the ingress or egress communication device of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 illustrates an elevation view of a portion of the ingress or egress communication device of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective end view of a portion of the ingress or egress communication device of FIG. 6;

10A-10C are schematic plan views illustrating a vehicle approaching an entry point and being granted access to park in a parking lot using the system of FIG. 3;

11A-11C are schematic plan views illustrating a vehicle approaching an exit point and authorized to exit a parking lot using the system of FIG. 3;

fig. 12 is a graph of scaled power values over time for first, second, third and fourth signals received by a mobile communication device from the communication system of fig. 3;

fig. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an example system for an access control system for a residential/commercial parking lot;

fig. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an example system for an access control system for a building access system; and

fig. 15 illustrates a block diagram of yet another example system for an access control system.

Detailed Description

The following modes, given by way of example only, are described to provide a more precise understanding of the subject matter of one or more preferred embodiments. In the drawings, like reference numerals are used to identify like parts throughout the figures, which are included to illustrate features of example embodiments.

Particular embodiments of the present invention may be implemented using a processing device, an example of which is shown in FIG. 1. In particular, the processing device 100 generally includes at least one processor 102, or processing unit, or multiple processors, a memory 104, at least one input device 106, and at least one output device 108, coupled together via a bus or set of buses 110. In some embodiments, the input device 106 and the output device 108 may be the same device. An interface 112 may also be provided for coupling the processing device 100 to one or more peripheral devices, for example, the interface 112 may be a PCI card or a PC card. At least one storage device 114 housing at least one database 116 may also be provided. The memory 104 may be any form of memory device such as volatile or non-volatile memory, solid state memory devices, magnetic devices, and the like. Processor 102 may include more than one different processing device, for example, to handle different functions within processing device 100.

The input device 106 receives input data 118 (such as electronic content data), for example, via a network or from a local storage device. Output device 108 produces or generates output data 120 (such as visual content) and may include, for example, a display device or monitor (in which case output data 120 is visual), a printer (in which case output data 120 is printed), a port (e.g., a USB port), a peripheral component adapter, a data transmitter or antenna (such as a modem or wireless network adapter), and so forth. The output data 120 may be different and derived from different output devices, such as a visual display on a monitor in combination with data transmitted to a network. The user may view the data output or an interpretation of the data output, for example, on a monitor or using a printer. The storage device 114 may be any form of data or information storage such as volatile or non-volatile memory, solid state memory devices, magnetic devices, or the like.

Examples of the electronic data storage 114 may include disk storage, optical disks (such as CD, DVD, blu-ray disc), flash memory/memory cards (e.g., solid state semiconductor memory), multimedia cards, USB sticks or keys, flash drives, Secure Digital (SD) cards, micro SD cards, microSD cards, miniSD cards, SDHC cards, miniSDHC cards, solid state drives, and so forth.

In use, the processing device 100 is adapted to allow data or information to be stored in and/or retrieved from the at least one database 116 via wired or wireless communication means. The interface 112 may allow wired and/or wireless communication between the processing unit 102 and peripheral components that may serve a particular purpose. The processor 102 receives instructions as input data 118 via the input device 106 and may display the processed results or other output to a user by utilizing the output device 108. More than one input device 106 and/or output device 108 may be provided. It should be appreciated that the processing device 100 may be any form of terminal, PC, laptop, notebook, desktop, smartphone, special hardware, etc.

The processing device 100 may be part of a networked communication system 200, as shown in FIG. 2. The processing device 100 may be connected to a network 202, such as the internet or a WAN. The input data 118 and the output data 120 may be communicated to other devices via the network 202. Other terminals, such as thin client 204,

other processing systems

206 and 208, notebook computer 210, mainframe computer 212, PDA 214, pen-based computer 216, server 218, and so forth, may be connected to network 202. A wide variety of other types of terminals or configurations may be used. The transmission of information and/or data over the network 202 may be accomplished using wired communication means 220 or wireless communication means 222. The server 218 may facilitate data transfer between the network 202 and one or more databases 224. The server 218 and one or more databases 224 provide examples of information sources.

Other networks may be in communication with the network 202. For example, the telecommunications network 230 may facilitate data transfer between the network 202 and a mobile or cellular telephone 232 or PDA type device 234 by utilizing wireless transmission means 236 and a receiving/transmitting station 238. The satellite communication network 240 may be in communication with a satellite signal receiver 242, the satellite signal receiver 242 receiving data signals from a satellite 244, the satellite 244 in turn being in telecommunication with a satellite signal transmitter 246. Terminals, such as other processing systems 248, notebook computers 250, or satellite phones 252, may thus communicate with the network 202. A local network 260 (which may be, for example, a private network, LAN, etc.) may also be connected to network 202. For example, the network 202 may be connected to an ethernet 262, the ethernet 262 connecting terminals 264, a server 266 (which controls the transfer of data to and/or from the database 268), and a printer 270. Various other types of networks may be used.

The processing device 100 is adapted to communicate with other terminals (e.g., other processing systems 206, 208) by sending and receiving

data

118, 120 to and from the network 202, thereby facilitating possible communication with other components of the networked communication system 200.

Thus, for example, the

networks

202, 230, 240 may form part of or be connected to the internet, in which case the

terminals

206, 212, 218 may be, for example, web servers, internet terminals, etc. Depending on the particular implementation, the

networks

202, 230, 240, 260 may be or may form part of other communication networks, such as a LAN, WAN, ethernet, token ring, FDDI ring, star network, etc., or a mobile phone network (such as GSM, CDMA or 3G, 4G, etc.), and may be wholly or partially wired networks (including, for example, fiber optics) or wireless networks.

Referring to fig. 3, an example system 302 is shown for use with an access control system 304 for a parking area of a motor vehicle. In one form, the system 302 operates as a virtual ticketing system. The

systems

302, 304 operate together to form the system 300.

Specifically, the system 302 includes a communication system 306 associated with a motor vehicle parking lot and a computer program 308 executing on a mobile communication device 310.

The mobile communication device 310 may be provided in the form of the processing device 100 and more particularly, in the form of a smart circuit, a desktop processing system, or the like. In particular, the mobile communication device 310 generally includes a processor 102, a memory 104, an input device 106, an output device 108, and a communication interface 112 coupled together via a bus. The input and

output devices

106, 108 may be provided in an integrated form, such as a touch screen display. In particular embodiments, mobile communication device 310 may include a camera device. The mobile communication device 310 is typically associated with an entity such as a user (which may be a driver or passenger of the vehicle). The computer program 308 may be provided in the form of a 'mobile application'.

In use, the mobile communication device 310 may be located near a user in a vehicle, in a pocket of a user, mounted within a vehicle, or the like. Preferably, the user does not need to interact with the mobile communication device 310 during use in order for communication to occur between the mobile communication device 310 and the communication system 206. Specifically, the mobile communication device 310 is configured to operate automatically and communicate with the communication system to enter and exit the restricted vehicle parking zone without user input.

The access control system 304 for a motor vehicle parking lot may be a ticketing system that includes an access control processing system 312, an entry controller 314 in the form of a ticketing machine at an entry point of the motor vehicle parking lot, an exit controller 316 in the form of a ticket reader at an exit point of the motor vehicle parking lot, automated entry and exit components 318, 320 (e.g., automated control gates) distributed at the entry and exit points, and a vehicle detection system 322. Access control processing system 312 may be provided in the form of processing system 100.

Advantageously, the described system 302 can be retrofitted with existing access control systems 304 that currently issue physical tickets, so that the entities have the option of receiving authorization data in the form of a virtual ticket to their respective mobile communication device 310. However, it is possible that system 300, including system 302, can be newly designed and installed. For clarity, in this example, the entity is a user associated with the mobile communication device 310.

Referring more particularly to fig. 3, the communication system 306 is generally a local communication system that utilizes wireless communication. Communication system 306 includes an ingress communication system 324 that includes at least one ingress communication device associated with an ingress point of a restricted area; and an exit communication system 326 comprising at least one exit communication device associated with an exit point of the restricted area.

In a preferred form, the communication system 306 includes a plurality of ingress communication devices associated with ingress points of the restricted area and a plurality of egress communication devices associated with egress points of the restricted area. As will be described in more detail below, the use of multiple ingress and egress communication devices may be advantageous for handling different mobile communication devices having different communication characteristics (e.g., speed, communication sensitivity, etc.).

More specifically, the entrance communication system 324 includes a first entrance communication device 334 located a short distance (i.e., 0.5-10 meters) in front of the ticket machine 314, and an entrance gate assembly 318 at the parking lot entrance point. Similarly, the first exit communication device 354 is located a small distance (i.e., 0.5-10 meters) in front of the ticket reader 316, and the exit gate assembly 320 is at the parking lot exit point. In one form, the first inlet communication device 334 and the first outlet communication device 354 are located within respective bollards. The first inlet and

outlet communication devices

334, 354 are preferably stationary devices. Preferably, the first ingress communication device 334 and the first egress communication device 354 communicate using a bluetooth protocol (such as bluetooth low energy). The wireless signals transmitted by the first ingress and egress communication devices indicate unique device identities/addresses for the respective communication devices.

Referring to fig. 5, a communication device body 325 is shown having a parabolic shaped interior wall to define a first inlet communication device 334 or a first outlet communication device 354 of a directional antenna. Fig. 6-9 show a communication device body equipped with a microcontroller 328 mounted to the rear surface of the communication device body 325. The microcontroller 328 is configured to perform various wireless communication processes. As seen in fig. 6-9, an antenna element 327 in electrical communication with the microcontroller 328 is located at the focal point of the parabolic inner wall. The parabolic walls of the antenna device body 325 define a focused transmission zone, similar to a "hot spot," where the mobile communication device 310 is able to detect a strong increase in received signal strength as compared to areas outside the focused transmission zone. As shown in fig. 5-9, the directional antennas of the first ingress and first

egress communication devices

334, 354 are parabolic antennas, which advantageously focus the transmission of the transmitted signals within a particular area while still capturing the transmitted signals from the mobile communication device 310 over a wide area. It will be appreciated that the cover may extend between the sides of the body 325 that are substantially flush with the bollard outer wall, although not shown in fig. 5-9 for clarity.

In a preferred form, the entry communication system 324 of the communication system 306 may further include a second entry communication device 336 located within or near the ticket dispenser 318. In addition, the exit communication system 326 of the communication system 306 may further include a second exit communication device 356 located within or near the ticket reader 316. The second inlet and

outlet communication devices

336, 356 are preferably stationary devices. In a preferred form, the second ingress and

egress communication devices

336, 356 are bluetooth communication devices using bluetooth low energy. The wireless signals transmitted by the second ingress and

egress communication devices

336, 356 indicate a unique device identity/address for the respective communication device. The second ingress communication device 336 is part of an entry point microcontroller 338 (such as a Raspberry Pi microcontroller or the like) located within or near the ticket dispenser 314 or is coupled to the entry point microcontroller 338. The first inlet communication device 334 is also coupled to an entry point microcontroller 338 via a wired medium extending between the bollard and the ticket drawer 314. Similarly, the second exit communication device 356 is part of an exit point microcontroller 358 (such as a Raspberry Pi microcontroller or the like) located within or near the ticket reader 316 or is coupled to the exit point microcontroller 358 via a wired medium. The first exit communication device 354 is also part of the exit point microcontroller 358 or is coupled to the exit point microcontroller 358 via a wired medium extending between the bollard and the ticket reader 320.

The entry communication system 324 of the communication system 306 preferably further includes third and fourth

entry communication devices

330, 332 provided in the form of a first entry transmitter 330 and a second entry transmitter 332. In addition, the exit communication system 326 of the communication system 306 further includes third and fourth

exit communication devices

350, 352 provided in the form of a first exit transmitter 350 and a second exit transmitter 352. The first and second ingress and

egress transmitters

330, 332, 350, 352 are configured to operate as beacons, each periodically transmitting a unique wireless signal that can be received by the proximate mobile communication device 310. The unique wireless signal may be indicative of a unique identity (such as a globally unique identifier) associated with the respective communication device. The unique wireless signal that can be received by the approaching mobile communication device 310 can be used by the mobile communication device 310 to determine which side of the vehicle (i.e., left or right) the approaching mobile communication device 310 is located. As will be described in further detail below, determining whether a particular mobile communication device 310 is located on the left or right side of the vehicle 1000 may be used to distinguish between multiple mobile communication devices located in the vehicle 1000 that attempt to communicate with the communication system 306 substantially simultaneously. Additionally, wireless signals received from the

transmitters

330, 332, 350, 352 can be analyzed by the proximate mobile communication device 310 to assist in determining when the mobile communication device 310 should transmit an entry or exit request.

The first and second

portal transmitters

330, 332 are generally located on adjacent opposite sides of the entry path (i.e., road or lane), as shown in fig. 10A through 10C. Specifically, the first and second

portal transmitters

330, 332 are spatially offset from the center of the vehicle's entry path. In one particular form, the first and second

portal transmitters

330, 332 may be mounted/embedded to a roof surface, ground surface, or wall surface of a parking lot. Generally, the first and second

portal transmitters

330, 332 are substantially orthogonally aligned relative to a direction of travel of the vehicle 1000 along the incoming vehicle path when passing by the first and second

portal transmitters

330, 332. In one form, the first and

second ingress transmitters

330, 332 share a common power supply, although it is possible for separate power supplies.

Similarly, the first and

second exit transmitters

350, 352 are generally located on adjacent opposite sides of the exit path (i.e., road or lane), as shown in fig. 11A-11C. Specifically, the first and

second exit transmitters

350, 352 are spatially offset relative to the center of the vehicle exit path. In one particular form, the first and

second outlet transmitters

350, 352 may be mounted/embedded to a roof surface, ground surface, or wall surface of a parking lot. Generally, the first and

second exit transmitters

350, 352 are aligned substantially orthogonally with respect to a direction of travel of the vehicle 1000 along the exit vehicle path when passing by the first and

second exit transmitters

350, 352. In one form, the first and

second egress transmitters

350, 352 share a common power supply, although separate power supplies are possible.

In a general form, the mobile communication device 310 is configured to generate and communicate an entry request in response to receiving a first entry signal from a first entry communication device 334 that satisfies entry criteria. Additionally, the mobile communication device 310 is configured to generate and communicate an exit request in response to receiving a first exit signal from the first egress communication device that satisfies the exit criteria. In one form the entry criteria and the exit criteria are based at least in part on received signal strengths of the received first entry signal and the first exit signal.

In a more preferred form, the mobile communication device 310 is configured to generate and communicate the entry request in response to receiving a first entry signal from the first portal communication device 334 and a second entry signal from the second portal communication device 356, the first entry signal and the second entry signal satisfying one or more entry criteria substantially simultaneously. Similarly, in a more preferred form, the mobile communication device 310 is configured to generate and communicate an exit request in response to receiving a first exit signal from the first egress communication device 354 and a second exit signal from the second ingress communication device 356, the first exit signal and the second exit signal satisfying one or more exit criteria substantially simultaneously.

Since the mobile communication devices 310 may be located in a variety of locations in the vehicle 1000 that may affect the received signal strengths of a variety of mobile communication devices 310 and may also affect varying signal reception characteristics, in some cases it may not be possible to predefine the entry criteria and the exit criteria purely depending on a predefined threshold received signal strength. Thus, in a preferred form, the mobile communication device 310 is configured to dynamically determine the entry scaling value based on the received signal strength of the plurality of third and/or fourth entry signals received from the first and

second entry transmitters

330, 332, such that predefined entry criteria can be used by the mobile communication device 310 to determine when to use the entry scaling value to communicate the entry request. Similarly, the mobile communication device 310 is configured to dynamically determine the exit scaling value based on the received signal strengths of the plurality of third and/or fourth exit signals received from the first and

second exit transmitters

350, 352, such that predefined exit criteria may be used by the mobile communication device 310 to determine when to use the exit scaling value to communicate the exit request.

More specifically, the mobile communication device 310 is configured to successively convert the received signal strengths of the third and fourth incoming signals to a received power value. Each power value is determined by the mobile communication device 310 using the received signal strength and configuration data stored in memory indicating the transmission characteristics of the first and

second ingress transmitters

330, 332. The mobile communication device 310 then analyzes at least some of the power values of the received third and fourth incoming signals (such as a shifted history window of power values) as it approaches the entry point to determine the magnitude of the power value being calculated. In particular, the magnitude of the received power may vary significantly between various mobile communication devices and the location of the mobile communication device within the vehicle. In one form, the magnitude of the power value may be determined based on a power peak detected for the first or

second transmitter

330, 332. In one form, the power peaks may occur when the mobile communication device has just passed a point spatially closest to the first or

second ingress transmitter

330, 332, as illustrated in fig. 10B. The length of the shift history window may be ibn (yien) memory (such as via configuration data) to account for variations due to interference and the like. Depending on the location of the mobile communication device 310 within the vehicle 1000, a power peak may be identified for either the first or second

portal transmitter

330, 332 once a power peak for either the first or second

portal transmitter

330, 332 has been detected due to a detected drop in the received third or fourth entry signal, the mobile communication device 310 determines an entry scaling value based on the power peak of the third or fourth entry signal received from the first or second

portal transmitter

330, 332. The incoming scaling value may be determined by the mobile communication device 310 such that the power peak is linearly scaled to have a predefined scaled power value (e.g., 1000-as shown in fig. 12). The entry scaling value is stored in a memory of the mobile communication device 310 and later used to determine whether/when to transmit entry requests related to the received first and second entry signals. In this particular example, the entry request may be received by the second portal communication device 336 of the communication system 306.

The mobile communication device 310 may also determine and compare the power peaks of the first and second

portal transmitters

330, 332 to determine which side (e.g., left or right) of the vehicle 1000 the mobile communication device 310 is located. The mobile communication device 310 has stored in memory configuration data received from the server processing system 340 indicating on which side of the incoming path each of the ingress transmitters is located. For example, the first portal transmitter 330 can be located on the left side of the vehicle access path and the second portal transmitter 332 can be located on the right side of the vehicle access path. If the highest power peak between the two

portal transmitters

330, 332 is associated with the third signal received from the first portal transmitter 330, the mobile communication device 310 determines that it is located on the left side of the vehicle 1000. Alternatively, if the highest power peak between the two

portal transmitters

330, 332 is associated with the fourth signal received from the second portal transmitter 332, the mobile communication device 310 determines that it is located on the right side of the vehicle 1000. Location data indicating that the mobile communication device 310 is located on a particular side of the vehicle is stored in the memory of the mobile communication device 310 and is communicated as part of an access request that may be used by the access control processing system 312 to distinguish between multiple access requests received substantially simultaneously from multiple mobile communication devices 310 within the same vehicle.

Once the entry scaling value has been determined, the mobile communication device 310 is configured to scale the determined power values of the first and second entry signals received from the first and second

entry communication devices

334, 336.

For each first incoming signal that the mobile communication device 310 receives when it is near the entry point, the mobile communication device 310 determines the received signal strength of the first incoming signal and then converts the received signal strength to power. The mobile communication device 310 then scales the power according to the incoming scaling value and applies a smoothing function to the scaled power value, thereby accounting for the previously determined scaled power value for at least a portion of any previously received first incoming signal. A similar process occurs with respect to each received second incoming signal. Specifically, for each second incoming signal that the mobile communication device 310 receives when it is near the entry point, the mobile communication device 310 determines the received signal strength of the second incoming signal and then converts the received signal strength to power. The mobile communication device 310 then scales the power value according to the incoming scaling value and applies a smoothing function to the scaled power value, thereby accounting for the previously determined scaled power value for at least a portion of any previously received second signal. The mobile communication device 310 then determines whether the scaled power values for the most recently received samples of the first and second incoming signals satisfy one or more incoming signal criteria. In response to satisfying the one or more entry signal criteria, the mobile communication device 310 generates and transmits an entry request. In this example, the incoming request is received by the second communication device 356.

More specifically, the mobile communication device dynamically generates a first baseline incoming scaled power value after receiving each first incoming signal and dynamically generates a second baseline incoming scaled power value after receiving each second incoming signal. The first and second baseline entry scaled power values may be calculated as an average of the scaled power values received over a threshold time period or over a threshold number of received signals (e.g., the last 50 samples). Thus, it will be appreciated that the baseline varies over time. The mobile communication device 310 has stored in memory first and second predefined threshold entry growth rates. In one form first and second predefined threshold entry growth rates may be defined in the configuration data. In one example, various growth rates may be expressed as growth percentages, although other expressions of growth rates are possible. The mobile communication device 310 determines a first incoming growth rate for a current scaled power value of the first incoming signal relative to the first baseline incoming scaled power value. In addition, the mobile communication device 310 determines a second incoming growth rate for the current scaled power value of the second incoming signal relative to the second baseline incoming scaled power value. The mobile communication device 310 then determines whether the first and second incoming growth rates meet or exceed predefined first and second threshold incoming growth rates, respectively. In one form, the mobile communication device 310 can also determine whether the first and second scaled power values of the most recently received signal meet or exceed the first and second scaled power thresholds to avoid false positive detections. If a positive determination is made, the mobile communication device 310 generates and transmits an entry request. In one variation, multiple successive growth rates may need to meet or exceed a threshold for successive scaled power values to generate and communicate an incoming request to avoid abrupt changes in interference or the like.

If the first and second incoming growth rates do not meet or exceed the predefined first and second threshold incoming growth rates, respectively, the mobile communication device 310 may be configured to check whether the consecutive scaled power values for the threshold time period are greater than the predefined scaled power value threshold. The time threshold and the associated predefined scaled power value threshold may be stored in a memory of the mobile communication device 310 and may be defined by configuration data. Such failsafe processing may be performed due to unusual circumstances, such as a user handling their mobile communication device during its approach to an egress point. For example, if the mobile communication device 310 determines that the scaled power value of the first incoming signal has been greater than the first scaled power threshold (e.g., 200) for a threshold time period (e.g., 4 seconds) and the scaled power value of the second incoming signal has been greater than the second scaled power threshold (e.g., 400) for a threshold time period (e.g., 4 seconds), the mobile communication device 310 determines that one or more entry criteria have been met and then proceeds to generate and transmit an entry request.

A similar process occurs with respect to the first and second egress communication devices. In particular, the mobile communication device 310 is configured to successively convert the received signal strength of the third and fourth exit signals to a received power value. Each power value is determined by the mobile communication device 310 using the received signal strength and predefined data stored in memory indicative of the transmission characteristics of the first and

second egress transmitters

350, 352. When approaching the entry point, the mobile communication device 310 then analyzes at least some of the received power values (such as a shifted history window of power values of the received third and fourth exit signals) to determine the magnitude of the power values. In one form, the magnitude may be determined based on the magnitude of the power peak for the first or

second egress transmitter

350, 352. In one form, the power peak may be determined when the mobile communication device 310 has just passed the point spatially closest from the first or

second egress transmitter

350, 352, as illustrated in fig. 11B. The length of the shift history window is defined to account for variations due to interference and the like and may be defined in the configuration data. Depending on the location of the mobile communication device 310 within the vehicle 1000, a power peak may be associated with either the first or

second egress transmitter

350, 352. Once a power peak for either the first or

second egress transmitter

350, 352 has been detected due to a detected drop in the received third or fourth exit signal, the mobile communication device 310 determines an exit scaling value based on the power peak of the third or fourth exit-in signal received from the first or

second egress transmitter

350, 352. The exit scaling value may be determined by the mobile communication device 310 such that the power peak is linearly scaled to have a predefined scaled power value (e.g., 1000). The exit scaling value is stored in a memory of the mobile communication device 310 and later used to determine whether/when to transmit an exit request in response to the first and second exit signals.

In some cases, the mobile communication device 310 may also determine and compare the power peaks of the first and

second exit transmitters

350, 352 to determine which side (e.g., left or right) of the vehicle 1000 the mobile communication device 310 is located on when attempting to exit the restricted zone. The mobile communication device 310 has stored in memory configuration data received from the server processing system 340 indicating on which side of the vehicle exit path each

exit transmitter

350, 352 is located. For example, the first exit transmitter 350 may be located on the left side of the vehicle exit path and the second exit transmitter 352 may be located on the right side of the vehicle exit path. If the highest power peak between the two

exit transmitters

350, 352 is associated with the third signal received from the first exit transmitter 330, the mobile communication device 310 determines that it is located on the left side of the vehicle 1000. Alternatively, if the highest power peak between the two

exit transmitters

350, 352 is associated with the fourth signal received from the second exit transmitter 352, the mobile communication device 310 determines that it is located on the right side of the vehicle 1000. Location data indicating that the mobile communication device 310 is located on a particular side of the vehicle is stored in the memory of the mobile communication device 310 and is provided as part of an entry request that can be used by the access control processing system 312 to distinguish between multiple exit requests received substantially simultaneously from multiple mobile communication devices in the same vehicle 1000.

Once the exit scaling value has been determined, the mobile communication device 310 is configured to scale the determined power values of the first and second signals received from the first and second egress communication devices.

For each first exit signal that the mobile communication device 310 receives when it approaches the exit point, the mobile communication device 310 determines the received signal strength of the first exit signal and then converts the received signal strength to power. The mobile communication device 310 then scales the power according to the exit scaling value and applies a smoothing function to the scaled power value, thereby accounting for the previously determined scaled power value for at least a portion of any previously received first exit signal. A similar process occurs with respect to each received second exit signal. Specifically, for each second exit signal that the mobile communication device 310 receives when it approaches the exit point, the mobile communication device 310 determines the received signal strength of the second exit signal and then converts the received signal strength to power. The mobile communication device 310 then scales the power value according to the exit scaling value and applies a smoothing function to the scaled power value, thereby accounting for the previously determined scaled power value for at least a portion of any previously received second exit signal. The mobile communication device 310 then determines whether the scaled power values for the most recently received first and second exit signals satisfy one or more entry criteria. In response to one or more exit criteria being met, the mobile communication device 310 generates and transmits an exit request. In this particular example, the exit request may be received by the second egress communication device 356 of the communication system 306.

More specifically, the mobile communication device 301 dynamically generates a first baseline exit scaled power value after receiving each first exit signal and dynamically generates a second baseline exit scaled power value after receiving each second exit signal. The first and second baseline exit scaled power values may be calculated as an average of the scaled power values received over a threshold time period or over a threshold number of received signals (e.g., the last 50 samples). Thus, it will be appreciated that the baseline varies over time. The mobile communication device 310 has stored in memory first and second predefined threshold exit growth rates. The mobile communication device 310 determines a first exit growth rate for a current scaled power value of a first exit signal related to a first baseline exit scaled power value. Further, the mobile communication device 310 determines a second exit growth rate for the current scaled power value of the second exit signal related to the second baseline exit scaled power value. The mobile communication device 310 then determines whether the first and second exit growth rates meet or exceed predefined first and second threshold exit growth rates, respectively. Optionally, the mobile communication device 310 determines whether the scaled power values of the most recently received first and second signals meet or exceed the scaled power threshold. If a positive determination is made, the mobile communication device 310 generates and transmits an exit request. As previously discussed with respect to entry criteria, in one variation, multiple successive growth rates may need to meet or exceed a threshold for successive scaled power values to generate and communicate exit requests to avoid abrupt changes in interference or the like.

If the first and second exit growth rates do not meet or exceed the predefined first and second threshold exit growth rates, respectively, the mobile communication device 310 may be configured to check if a continuous scaled power value meeting or exceeding the predefined scaled power value threshold has been determined over a threshold time period. The time and scaled power value thresholds may be stored in a memory of the mobile communication device 310 and may be part of the configuration data. Such failsafe processing may be performed due to unusual circumstances, such as a user handling their mobile communication device 310 during a close proximity to an egress point. For example, if the mobile communication device 310 determines that the scaled power value of the first exit signal has been greater than the first scaled power threshold (e.g., 200) for a threshold time period (e.g., 4 seconds) and the scaled power value of the second exit signal has been greater than the second scaled power threshold (e.g., 400) for a threshold time period (e.g., 4 seconds), the mobile communication device 310 determines that one or more exit signal criteria have been met and then proceeds to generate and transmit an exit request.

In some configurations and as mentioned above, there may be situations where multiple mobile communication devices 310 are located in a vehicle 1000 near an exit point. However, only one of the mobile communication devices 310 may have stored in memory the authorization data for the respective parking lot. In response to receiving one or more exit signals from the exit communication system 326, each mobile communication device 310 may be configured by the computer program 308 to determine whether any authorization data indicative of a restricted area is currently stored in memory. If one of the mobile communication devices 310 determines that the authorization data is not stored in memory, the respective mobile communication device 310 may be configured to ignore the received exit signal. Thus, in most cases, an exit request indicating the location of the respective mobile communication device 310 within the respective vehicle 1000 may not be required. Thus, in some embodiments, only a single egress transmitter may be required to allow the mobile communication device 310 to set the exit zoom value. However, in some scenarios, users of two separate mobile communication devices 310 in the same vehicle 1000 (who have been separately granted access to restricted areas) both exit the parking lot together. In this case, the location data of the exit request may be used by the access control processing system 312 to distinguish between multiple exit requests to determine which user account the parking session should be associated with.

The mobile communication device 310 is preferably configured to use location services and regional monitoring of the associated operating system to specifically register one or more geographic regions with the operating system of the mobile communication device 310, where each registered geographic region defines a geographic boundary with respect to a respective parking lot. The boundary may be a predefined radius (e.g., 500 meters) from a point of the corresponding parking lot. Each geographical area registered by the computer program 308 has a list of transmission areas (also referred to as beacon areas) associated with the

communication devices

330, 332, 334, 336, 350, 352, 354, 356 of the parking lot's communication system 306. The mobile communication device 310 is configured to determine a zone crossing event using the location service of the operating system when the mobile communication device 310 crosses a predefined geographic boundary associated with a respective parking lot. Once mobile communication device 310 determines, based on the location service, that mobile communication device 310 has entered the predefined geographic area, computer program 308 is launched in the background environment of the operating system if computer program 308 has not been loaded into the background environment of the operating system. The mobile communication device 310 is configured to listen for transmitted entry or exit signals associated with restricted transmission regions (also referred to as beacon regions) of the

communication devices

330, 332, 334, 336, 350, 352, 354, 356 associated with the respective communication system 306.

The entry point microcontroller 338 includes a data port for connection to the ticket dispenser 314 via a data cable 334. Similarly, the exit point microcontroller 358 also includes a data port for connection to the ticket gate 316 via a data cable 338. Each data port may be a serial port connected to a serial port of the ticket/

ticket gate

314, 316 via a

serial cable

334, 338. It will be appreciated that other types of data cables and data ports may be used. As will be appreciated, the ticket dispenser 314 and ticket collector include controls for invoicing and reading tickets, respectively.

In connection with the ticket dispenser 314, the second inlet communication device 336 communicates data to the ticket dispenser 314 via the data cable 334 based on the received access request. The data communicated to the ticket machine may indicate or include an entry request and additionally include a flag or token indicating that the user is a registered user of the system 302, thereby eliminating the need for a physical ticket to be issued by the ticket machine 314. The ticket machine 314 communicates the access request to the access control processing system 312 via a local computer network. The access control system may then determine whether access should be granted based on data stored in data store 340 or based on determinations performed by server processing system 340 and data store 342. In response to successfully determining that the user should be granted access, access control processing system 312 or server processing system 340 generates authorization data in response. The authorization data is then passed from the access control processing system 312 to the ticket machine 314, and the ticket machine 314 then forwards the authorization data to the entry point microcontroller 338 via the data cable 334. The entry point microcontroller 338 then wirelessly communicates the authorization data to the mobile communication device 310 via the second entry communication device 336, the mobile communication device 310 being configured to store the authorization data in a memory of the mobile communication device 310. Once the authorization data is generated/received, the access control processing system 312 communicates an entry actuation command to the entry gate assembly 318 at the entry point, whereby the entry gate is actuated to an open position to allow the user to drive the vehicle into the parking lot. In a particular form, the entry gate assembly 318 is electrically coupled to the entry vehicle detection system 322, wherein the gate assembly 318 is actuated to the open position only in response to receiving an entry actuation command in conjunction with receiving an electrical signal from the entry vehicle detection system 322 indicating that a vehicle is present at the entry gate assembly. In one particular form, the ingress vehicle detection system 322 may be provided in the form of a cyclical detector or the like.

In connection with the ticket reader 316 at the exit point, the second exit communication device 356 communicates the exit request received from the mobile communication device 310 to the ticket reader 316 via the data cable 338. The exit request indicates that the received authorization data is stored in the memory of the mobile communication device 310. It will be appreciated that in some embodiments the authorisation data may comprise general ticket data stored on a magnetic stripe or encoded data of a conventional parking ticket. However, as discussed with respect to various embodiments, the authorization data may include additional information. The exit request is then communicated to access control processing system 312 via a computer network. In some configurations, the authorization data may be forwarded to server processing system 340. The access control processing system 312 or the server processing system 340 determines whether the user is permitted to leave the parking lot based on the received exit request indicating the authorization data. In response to a positive determination, the access control processing system 312 or server processing system 340 records the exit time in data store 344 or data store 342, and the access control processing system 312 communicates an exit actuation command to the exit gate assembly 320 at the exit point via the ticket reader 316. The exit gate assembly 320 is then actuated to an open position to allow the user to drive their vehicle out of the parking lot.

As shown in fig. 3 and as already mentioned, the system 302 also includes a server processing system 340 in data communication with the admission control processing system 312. The server processing system 340 may be configured by one or more server computer programs. The server processing system 340 includes or has access to a data store 342 provided in the form of a database that includes entity records for registered users of the system 302. A user may use the system 302 via a web server hosted site associated with the server processing system 340 or via a computer program 308 executing on the mobile communication device 310.

Upon successful registration of the user, the server processing system 340 stores device-specific data binding the user with the communication device 310 in the server database 342. The device-specific data may include the MAC address and device type data of the mobile communication device 310. The user record stored in the server database 342 additionally includes the user identity. The user identity may be communicated to the mobile communication device 310 for storage in a memory of the mobile communication device 310. Alternatively, the user identity may be presented to the user so that the user identity may be entered at a future time when interaction with the computer program 308 is required.

Each user record in the data store 342 additionally includes financial data indicative of a financial account that may be billed by the server processing system 340 in response to a parking fee incurred from the access control system 304 for the parking lot. Specifically, once the user leaves the parking lot, the access control processing system 312 generates an electronic invoice that is communicated to the server processing system 340 via a communication network, such as a Wide Area Network (WAN), like the internet. The server processing system 340 then automatically debits the corresponding user account based on the invoice amount. The service fee may additionally be charged to the user account by an operator of the system 302.

Upon successfully registering a user to use system 302, server processing system 340 additionally generates key data associated with the user record for that user. The key data is stored in the server database 342. In addition, the key data is communicated to the mobile communication device 310 via a communication network, wherein the mobile communication device 310 stores the key data in memory. The key data includes key pairs, where each key pair includes a single use entry key and a corresponding single user exit key. The mobile communication device 310 generates an entry request to include one of the entry keys associated with the user. Access control processing system 312 queries a registration entity database 344 accessible to access control processing system 312 to determine whether the indicated entry key is valid. The mobile communication device 310 also generates an exit request to include an exit key associated with the user. Access control processing system 312 queries registered entity database 344 to determine if the indicated exit key is valid. Periodically, server processing system 340 updates the data stored in registered entity database 344 with new key data and new user identities to enable access control processing system 312 to verify the validity of received entry and exit requests.

When the entry communication system 324 receives the entry request, the entry request may also indicate the user identity and the hashed user identity. The computer program 308 of the mobile communication device 310 is configured to obtain the user identity from memory or via user input and hash the user identity using device-specific information associated with the mobile communication device 310, such as the MAC address and the device type of the mobile communication device 310. The entry request is forwarded to the access control system 304 for verification using the registered entity database 344. The registered entity database 344 has stored therein user records each comprising a respective user identity, device-specific information for the mobile communication device 310 of the respective user, and a key pair associated with the respective user. Access control processing system 312 performs the same hashing function on the user identity using the device-specific information and compares the generated hashed user identity to the received hashed user identity indicated by the access request. Access control processing system 312 also determines whether the entry key is associated with the corresponding user indicated by the received user identity. In response to a successful comparison, access control processing system 312 determines that the received access request is valid and generates authorization data for communication to ticket machine 314, and ticket machine 314 is ultimately forwarded to mobile communication device 310. Although the authentication process has been described as being performed by access control processing system 312, it is alternatively possible for server processing system 340 to perform the authentication process. If access control processing system 312 or server processing system 340 determines that the received access request is invalid based on the comparison, access control processing system 312 communicates a failure signal back to ticket machine 314 and ticket machine 314 issues a physical ticket in accordance with normal operation. When successful authentication is determined by access control processing system 312, access control processing system 312 updates registered entity database 344 to indicate that the received access key has been used, and that the corresponding access key can no longer be used.

When the exit communication system 326 receives an exit request, the exit request may indicate an exit key corresponding to an entry key, a user identity, and a hashed user identity previously presented when entering the parking lot. The access control processing system 312 may perform the same hashing process and comparison as described above. Additionally, access control processing system 312 may also determine whether the exit key is associated with a user in the database, and also determine whether the exit key corresponds to an entry key previously presented when entering the parking lot. In an alternative arrangement, the server processing system 344 may perform the verification process. In response to a successful comparison, the access control processing system 312 determines or receives data indicating that the received exit request is valid and communicates an exit actuation command back to the ticket reader 316 to actuate the opening of the exit gate assembly 320, thereby allowing the user to drive their vehicle out of the parking lot.

Due to the single-user nature of the key pair, the mobile communication device 310 under control of the computer program 308 may issue a key pair replenishment request to the server processing system 340 communicated via the communications physics, where the server processing system 340 generates a plurality of new key pairs that are then communicated back to the mobile communication device 310 for storage. When the upper threshold limit for the key pair has been reached, a key pair replenishment request may be automatically communicated by the computer program 308. Alternatively, the key pair supplement request may be sent via user interaction with the computer program 308. A copy of the issued key pair is also stored in server database 342 of server processing system 340. In addition, a copy of the new key pair is updated to the registered entity database 344 accessible by the access control processing system 312. Each time an entry or exit key is used for an entry or exit request, the mobile communication device 310 flags or marks the key pair, or alternatively clears the corresponding key pair upon use so that it is no longer reused.

In particular embodiments, computer program 308 controls mobile communication device 310 to generate entry and exit requests to indicate one or more wireless devices to which mobile communication device 310 is currently connected. If communication system 306 receives data from multiple mobile communication devices 310 indicating a substantially simultaneous entry or exit request, communication system 306 may use the data indicating one or more connected wireless devices as indicated by the entry or exit request to determine which user account is associated with the parking session. In particular, an entry or exit request by a mobile communication device 310 may indicate a particular mobile communication device 310 connected to a hands-free communication system, which may be a hands-free communication system of a vehicle or a separate device, such as a bluetooth headset. In practice, mobile communication devices 310 connected to other wireless devices are considered to have a higher priority than other mobile communication devices 310, and therefore incoming requests received from that mobile communication device 310 should be processed so that the parking session is associated with the corresponding user account.

Additionally or alternatively, the computer program 308 controls the mobile communication device 310 to generate an entry or exit request indicating the relative location of the mobile communication device 310 within the vehicle based on the received signal strength or scaled power value of the third or fourth entry or exit signal. In particular, since the mobile communication device 310 has stored configuration data in local memory that indicates the configuration of the communication system 306 for the parking lot, the received signal strength or scaled power value for the third or fourth entry or exit signal may indicate whether the mobile communication device 310 is located on the left or right side of the vehicle 1000. For example, referring to fig. 12, a plot of scaled power values generated by the mobile communication device 310 based on received incoming signals from the first portal communication device 334 (line 1230), the second portal communication device 338 (line 1240), the first portal transmitter 330 installed to the left of the vehicle path (line 1220), and the second portal transmitter 332 installed to the right of the vehicle path (line 1210) is shown. In this example, the second portal transmitter 332 installed on the right side of the vehicle path in fig. 12 has a higher scaled power value, where the computer program configures the mobile communication device 310 to generate an entry request including side data indicative of the right side of the vehicle. If communication system 306 receives substantially simultaneous access or exit requests from multiple mobile communication devices 310, access control processing system 312 may use the relative positions of mobile communication devices 310 to determine which user account to associate with the parking session. In one form and in countries where the driver is located on the right side of the vehicle, priority is given to entry and exit requests indicating the relative position of the right side of the vehicle. It will be appreciated that in countries where the driver is located to the left of the vehicle, priority is given to the entry or exit request indicating the left position.

In another form, the mobile communication device 310 generates entry and exit requests indicating one or more timestamps associated with the entry or exit signals, where the one or more timestamps may be used as a means of determining whether the user is located in front of or behind the vehicle. This information, along with information about whether the user is positioned to the left or right of the vehicle, may be used to indicate that the mobile communication device 310 is positioned in a quadrant of the vehicle. For example, quadrants may include left front, right front, left back, and right back. The access control processing system 312 may use the quadrants to determine which mobile communication device 310 may be associated with the driver of the vehicle. For example, in a country where the driver is sitting at the front right of the vehicle, the access control processing system gives priority to an entry request received from the mobile communication device 310 indicating a front right relative position within the vehicle.

In some scenarios, it may not be clear which mobile communication device 310 is associated with a parking session when substantially simultaneous access requests are received from the same vehicle 1000. As a result, temporary authorization data may be issued to the mobile communication device 310 associated with the substantially simultaneous request for entry. The confirmation notification may then be communicated by the server processing system 340 to each mobile communication device 310. The receipt confirmation notification presented by the computer program 308 requests user confirmation as to which mobile communication device 310 is to be associated with the parking session. In response to the user of one of the mobile communication devices 310 responding to the confirmation notification, indicating that the respective mobile communication device 310 is to be associated with the parking session, the server processing system and/or access control processing system 312 updates the data stored in the data store(s) 342, 344. Access control processing system 312 and/or server processing system 340 generates authorization data in place of the temporary authorization data, which is then passed to validating mobile communication device 310 for storage in memory.

In one form, the parking lot may be associated with various stores, shops, and facilities that provide verification of parking of the user. For example, it is common that a movie theater associated with a parking lot may validate a customer's ticket so that the customer does not need to pay for parking. In this regard, the mobile communication device 310 may operate under the control of the computer program 308 to obtain a parking validation code and communicate authorization data indicative of the validation code to the egress communication device 326 for processing by the access control system 304. In particular, a receipt may be issued to a user who is a merchant customer associated with the parking lot, where the receipt may include a machine-readable indicia, such as a barcode or two-dimensional code. The computer program 308 allows the user to capture a photograph of the machine-readable indicia, which is then interpreted to determine a parking validation code. The parking verification code may be combined with the authorization data already stored so that when the authorization data is communicated to the egress communication device 326 upon approaching the parking lot entry point, the access control system 304 may process the ticket according to the verification code.

The system 302 may additionally include a plurality of parking lot communication devices 346 located throughout the parking lot. Each parking lot communication device 346 can broadcast navigation information that can be received by the mobile communication devices 310 within broadcast proximity of the communication device 346 and present the navigation information to the user. In one form, the navigation information may be presented audibly.

Referring to fig. 4, a method is shown that is representative of the method performed by the various components of the system 302 for a motor vehicle parking lot and the access control system 304.

Specifically, at step 405, the method 400 includes the mobile communication device detecting a boundary crossing event. The mobile communication device begins monitoring the list of registered transmission regions of the communication system 306 in response to the detected boundary crossing event. Additionally, if the computer program 308 has not already been launched, it is launched in the background environment of the operating system of the mobile communication device 310.

As the user approaches the entry point of the motor vehicle parking lot, step 410 of method 400 includes mobile communication device 310 receiving an entry signal from entry communication system 324 of communication system 306 associated with the monitored area under the control of computer program 308.

At step 412, the method includes the mobile communication device determining an incoming scaling value to scale the power value of the received incoming signal based on a power peak detected by one of the ingress communication devices of the ingress communication system 324.

At step 415, the method 400 includes the mobile communication device 310 generating and communicating an entry request to the second portal communication device 338 in response to the one or more received entry signals satisfying the one or more entry criteria. In a preferred form, the entry request is generated and communicated in an automated manner without user interaction (i.e., the user does not have to hold the mobile communication device and does not have to operate the mobile communication device).

At step 420, the method includes the second portal communication device 336 communicating the received access request to the access control system 304 via the ticket dispenser 314. More specifically, the entrance communication device 336 communicates with the ticket dispenser 314 via a data cable. The ticket machine 314 then communicates the access request to the access control processing system 312 via a computer network, such as a Local Area Network (LAN).

At step 425, the method 400 includes the second portal communication device 336 receiving authorization data generated by the access control system 304 via the ticket machine. In particular, the access control processing system 312 generates authorization data that is communicated to the ticket machine 314 via a computer network, and the ticket machine 314 in turn communicates the authorization data to a second ingress communication device 336 of an ingress point microcontroller 338 and to an interconnection data cable 338. The authorization data is stored in a database 344 accessible by the access control processing system 312.

At step 430, the method 400 includes the second portal communication device 336 wirelessly communicating authorization data to the user's mobile communication device 310 for storage in the memory of the mobile communication device 310 as a virtual ticket.

At step 435, the method 400 includes the access control processing system 312 instructing the ticket dispenser 314 to actuate the entry gate assembly 318 to move to the open position.

As the user approaches the exit point of the motor vehicle parking lot, step 440 of method 400 includes mobile communication device 310 receiving exit signals from at least some of the exit communication devices of communication system 306 associated with the monitored area under the control of computer program 308.

At step 442, the method includes the mobile communication device determining an exit scaling value to scale the power value of the received exit signal based on a detected power peak of one of the communication devices of the egress communication system 326.

At step 445, the method 400 includes the user's mobile communication device 310 communicating an exit request indicating authorization data to the egress communication device 326 in response to one or more received exit signals satisfying one or more exit criteria. In a preferred form, the exit request is generated and communicated in an automated manner without user interaction (i.e., without the user having to hold the mobile communication device and without having to operate the mobile communication device). In this example, the exit request indicates at least authorization data.

At step 450, the method 400 includes the second exit communication device 356 communicating the exit request to the access control system 312 and the ticket reader 316. Specifically, the second exit communication device 326 of the exit point microcontroller 358 communicates an exit request to the ticket reader 316 via the data cable 338. The ticket reader 316 then passes the exit request to the access control processing system 312 via the LAN.

At step 455, the method 400 includes the access control processing system 312 communicating an exit actuation command to the ticket reader 316 so that the exit gate assembly 320 is opened to allow the user to drive their vehicle away from the exit point of the motor vehicle parking lot.

The computer program 308 executing on the mobile communication device 310 may be opened by a user to display a user interface that may present various information to the user or allow the user to request various functions to be performed. For example, the user may be presented with information regarding the entry time into the parking lot stored as part of the authorization data. Further, a time indication of the amount of time available to remain parked in the parking lot may be presented. Additionally, the user may communicate authorization data to a different registered user, where the authorization data is communicated to the server processing system 340 and relayed to another mobile communication device 310 associated with the specified registered user. In addition, server processing system 340 communicates the transfer to access control processing system 312 so that different key data is used in authenticating the exit request.

Further, the user may request payment of the parking fee through the alternate financial account via the computer program 308. In addition, the user may review the transaction history. Further, the user may tag the designated transaction with a flag (i.e., work cost, personal cost, etc.). Additionally, the user may request printing of a physical ticket via the computer program 308, wherein a code is generated that may be entered by the user at a ticket gate associated with the parking lot, thereby printing the physical ticket with the associated authorization data. Further, the user may request that the computer program 308 be prohibited from generating entry requests and exit requests until re-enabled. This feature may be selected to ensure that authorization data is issued to the correct mobile communication device 310 in the event that multiple mobile communication devices 310 are located in the vehicle.

In certain embodiments, the user may interact with the computer program 308 to reserve a garage in a parking lot. The mobile communication device 310 communicates with the server processing system 340 to make the subscription. The server processing system provides indicia data to the access control system of the selected parking lot indicating that a reservation has been made. The entry request indicates the flag when the entry request is generated by the mobile communication device 310. The access control processing system 312 may use the indicia to calculate a final invoice that is sent to the server processing system 340. It will be appreciated that similar indicia may be requested from the server processing system 340 via the computer program 308 for various types of pay tables.

In an optional form, a replacement mobile communication device permanently secured within the vehicle 1000 may be used. For example, the mobile communication device may be provided in the form of a microcontroller permanently associated with the vehicle.

From the above description, it can be appreciated that multiple users using multiple mobile communication devices can be registered to use the system 302. Additionally, it will be appreciated that the mobile communication device 310 may be used for multiple restricted areas (i.e., multiple parking lots). It will also be appreciated that multiple parking lots may be retrofitted for use with system 302.

It will be appreciated that in some arrangements it may not be necessary to operate a gate to allow a user to enter or exit the restricted area. However, in this arrangement, it is preferred that the system include a feedback device, such as an electric light source that can be actuated, at each access point to indicate successful communication between the mobile communication device 310 and the access control system 304. For example, the system may include an entrance electric light source that may be actuated to display a red light when the mobile communication device 310 in proximity to the vehicle has not obtained issuance of authorization data. Upon successful transmission of the authorization data, the incoming electric light source may be actuated to display a green light. Similarly, an exit electrical light source may be provided and actuated to indicate when authorization data has been successfully received from the mobile communication device 310 and processed.

It will be appreciated that to compensate for various manufacturers of mobile communication devices, the communication system 306 can be configured to include multiple communication devices at an access point. This thereby allows a scaling value to be determined based on one of the communication devices for subsequently scaling a signal received from the second communication device to determine whether a threshold scaled power increase rate has been met or exceeded to cause an entry/exit request to be generated. Thus, it is possible to implement the system to include only two communication devices instead of four as described in the previous example. For example, if the relative location of the mobile communication device 310 is not necessarily required, it is possible to implement the system 300 to include a first communication device provided in the form of an ingress/egress transmitter (e.g., a beacon) that transmits a first wireless signal to the mobile communication device 310 when in close proximity to an access point to allow determination of a scaling value, and a second communication device (e.g., an ingress/

egress communication device

336, 356 or 334, 354) that is closer to the access point component (i.e., a gate) to allow the mobile communication device to determine when it is located substantially close to the access point component based on the rate of increase of the scaled power value so that an entry/exit request can be transmitted at the proper time. Alternatively, in scenarios where a transmitter cannot be used, the wireless signal received from the first ingress/

egress communication device

334, 354 may be used to determine a scaling value, and a scaled power value derived from the received wireless signal from the second ingress/

egress communication device

336, 356 may be used to determine when an entry/exit request should be transmitted.

In some embodiments, it may be possible to restrict the wide spectrum of wireless reception characteristics of multiple mobile communication devices used by multiple users for access control systems (i.e., employees of an employer using an employee parking garage may all be issuing with the same type of mobile characteristic device) to access restricted areas. Thus, scaling of the received power may not be necessary. In these situations, it is possible to use a single communication device at each access point and analyze the rate of increase of the power of the entry/exit signal to determine when an entry/exit request should be issued.

In embodiments where the vehicle 1000 is near an entry or exit point of a restricted area and multiple mobile communication devices are within the vehicle, each mobile communication device 310 may communicate with the remaining mobile communication devices 310 within the vehicle 1000 so that each mobile communication device determines which single mobile communication device is to send an entry or exit request. This configuration avoids the need to pass multiple entry or exit requests. In one form, the plurality of mobile communication devices 310 may communicate locally with each other using short range wireless communication (such as bluetooth low energy). In some scenarios where the plurality of mobile communication devices 310 include an alternate wireless communication device that is not being used to receive an entry or exit signal from the communication system 306, the plurality of mobile communication devices 310 will perform a handshake procedure and communicate using an alternate wireless communication protocol. This may be advantageous given that significant processing loads may have been handled by the bluetooth communication device of the mobile communication device. For example, a handshaking procedure (which may initially be conducted using bluetooth) may determine that each mobile communication device may communicate using NFC (near field communication). The NFC device of the mobile communication device 310 may then be used for wireless communication between the mobile communication devices 310 within the vehicle 1000. Each mobile communication device may wirelessly transmit data regarding the entry or exit signal being received. For example, the data being communicated may include a timestamp of when a particular entry or exit signal was received, a scaled power value of the entry or exit signal being received, a raw power value of the signal being received, and/or a received signal strength of the signal being received. Each mobile communication device 310 is configured by the computer program 308 to determine whether the respective mobile communication device 310 is associated with the driver based on data received from other mobile communication devices 310 and entry and exit signals received by the respective mobile communication device 310. Because the same analysis should be done in each mobile communication device 310, only one of the mobile communication devices will determine that it is associated with the driver, which is then configured to issue an entry or exit request.

It will be appreciated that for communication devices utilizing bluetooth low energy, the entry and exit signals may be BLE advertisements that may include a unique device identity (such as a globally unique identifier) of the respective communication device.

In the previous example where the mobile communication device 310 attempted to transmit an entry or exit request to the second ingress or

egress communication device

336, 356, the communication may be made using bluetooth low energy. In one embodiment, when communicating an entry or exit request, the mobile communication device 310 attempts to establish a communication session with a

second communication device

336, 356 coupled to or integrated with the ingress/

egress point microcontroller

338, 358. Generally, the communication session is in an anonymous connection, where the

second communication device

336, 356 is only capable of one communication session at any particular time. Once the entrance/exit gate assembly (e.g., gate) 318, 320 is actuated to allow the user to enter or exit the restricted area, the communication session eventually ends with the mobile communication device 310 moving out of range, such that the second entrance or exit

communication device

336, 356 is free from establishing a new communication connection with the mobile communication device 310 of the next vehicle 1000 in the entry/exit queue.

In some cases, the mobile communication device 310 of the vehicle 1000 that has passed the entry/

exit point components

318, 320 maintains the wireless communication session long enough to overlap the point in time that a different mobile communication device 310 located in the next vehicle in the entry/exit queue attempts to deliver an entry/exit request. In this scenario, the mobile communication device 310 of the next vehicle 1000 will not be able to identify the

second communication device

336, 356 as available for connection due to the communication session maintained with the mobile communication device 310 of the earlier vehicle 1000. However, the scanning operation will detect that the first

portal communication device

334, 354 is available for a communication connection that is failsafe in such situations. Thus, the mobile communication device 310 of the vehicle 1000 later establishes a communication connection with the first ingress/

egress communication device

334, 354, which then forwards the entry/exit request to the ingress/

egress point microcontroller

338, 358. If the first ingress communication device 334 has received the entry request, the ingress point microcontroller 338 passes the generated authorisation data to the first communication device 334, which is then forwarded to the connected mobile communication device 310 for storage. The entry point microcontroller 338 then actuates the entry gate assembly 318 via the ticket machine 314, as is conventional. If the first egress communication device 354 has received the exit request, the first mobile communication device 310 passes authorization data to the egress point microcontroller 358, which is then processed by the access control processing system 312. Once successfully authenticated and processed, the exit point microcontroller 358 communicates with the ticket reader 316 to actuate the exit gate assembly 320.

Referring to fig. 13, a further example system 1302 is shown in use with an access control system 1304 for a residential/commercial parking area. For purposes of clarity, like reference numbers are used between fig. 3 and 13 to identify functionally similar components. The

systems

1302, 1304 operate together to form the system 1300.

In particular, the system 1302 includes an ingress communication system 324 and an egress communication system 326, the ingress communication system 324 including a plurality of

ingress communication devices

330, 336 and the egress communication system 326 including a plurality of

egress communication devices

350, 356. Generally, the same access point is used for both entry and exit into the residential/commercial parking area, and the communication system 306 may include a single access point microcontroller 1330 in communication with at least one of the ingress communication devices 336 and at least one of the egress communication devices 356. Access point microcontroller 1330 is in communication with gate control processing system 312. The access control processing system 312 is electrically connected to a parking access control component 1318, which may include components such as access control doors, rollup doors, and the like. Access control processing system 312 may also be in data communication with a server processing system 340 having access to a data store 342. It will be appreciated that for less complex access control processing systems 312, the server processing system 340 may not be in data communication with the access control processing system 312.

The system 1302 operates in a similar manner as the system 300. An entry signal from the entry transmitter 330 may be received by the mobile communication device 310 when the vehicle driver approaches the access point to enter the residential/commercial parking area. The power peak of the ingress transmitter 330 is used to determine the ingress scaling value. Another incoming signal is received by the mobile communication device 310 from the portal communication device 336. The mobile communication device performs the same processing as described above, wherein if at least some of the one or more entry criteria have been met, the mobile communication device 310 transmits an entry request that is received by the entry point communication device 336 and passed to the access control processing system 312 via the access point microcontroller 1330. The access control processing system 312 then determines whether the access request is valid, as previously described. If verified successfully, the access control processing system 312 electronically controls the parking access control component 1318 to allow the user to drive into the residential/commercial parking area.

A similar process occurs when the driver of the vehicle 1000 approaches an access point to exit a residential/commercial parking area, and an exit signal from the exit transmitter 350 may be received by the mobile communication device 310. The power peak of the egress transmitter 350 is used to determine the exit scaling value. Another exit signal is received by the mobile communication device 310 from the egress communication device 356. The mobile communication device performs the same processing as described above, wherein if at least some of the one or more exit criteria have been met, mobile communication device 310 transmits an exit request that is received by exit point communication device 356 and communicated to access control processing system 312 via access point microcontroller 1330. Access control processing system 312 then determines whether the exit request is valid. Unlike the ticketing system previously described, the exit request may not need to indicate authorization data, but merely uniquely and securely identifies the user to allow exit through the access point. Thus, exit requests may be handled similarly to entry requests. If verified successfully, the access control processing system 312 electronically controls the parking access control component 1418 to allow the user to drive out of the residential/commercial parking area.

It will be appreciated that the system 1302 may be similarly configured as a ticket-based system, as described with respect to the system 302. Further, it will be appreciated that in some residential/commercial parking areas, entry into the residential/commercial parking area is limited, but there is no need to transmit an exit request to exit the residential/commercial parking area. For example, a vehicle detection device such as that described earlier may be used to detect that a vehicle wishes to exit a residential/commercial parking area. In this regard, for this type of arrangement, the egress communication system 326 of the system 1302 is not required.

Referring to fig. 14, a further system diagram of a system 1402 for use with an access control system 1404 for a door of a building is shown. The

systems

1402 and 1404 operate together to form the system 1400. For purposes of clarity, like reference numbers are used between fig. 3 and 14 to identify functionally similar components. In particular, the system 1402 includes a communication system 306 that includes a plurality of

communication devices

330, 336. The communication system 306 also includes an access point microcontroller 1330 in communication with at least one of the

communication devices

330, 336. Access point microcontroller 1330 is in communication with gate control processing system 312. The access control processing system 312 is electrically connected to the door lock access assembly 1418. Access control processing system 312 may also be in data communication with a server processing system 340 having access to a data store 342. It will be appreciated that for less complex access control processing systems 312, the server processing system 340 may not be in data communication with the access control processing system 312. It will be appreciated that the system 1402 is configured such that a user is only required to issue an access request to pass through the doorway in a first direction, wherein the door may be opened without issuing an access request when passing through the doorway in the opposite direction.

The system 1402 operates in a similar manner as the system 302. Generally, a user is carrying the mobile communication device 310 with him in some way (i.e., in his pocket, in his hand, etc.). When the user walks in one direction toward the door, which requires an entry request to be made to access a restricted area of the building, an entry signal from the entry transmitter 330 may be received by the mobile communication device 310. The power peak of the ingress transmitter 330 is used to determine the ingress scaling value. Another incoming signal is received by the mobile communication device 310 from the portal communication device 336. The mobile communication device 336 performs the same processing as described above, wherein if at least some of the one or more entry criteria have been met, the mobile communication device 310 transmits an entry request that is received by the communication device 336 and communicated to the access control processing system 312 via the access point microcontroller 1330. The access control processing system 312 then determines whether the access request is valid and the user is authorized, as previously described. If authentication and authorization is successful, the access control processing system 312 electronically controls the door lock assembly 1418 to allow the user to open the door and walk through the doorway to access the restricted area of the building.

As discussed above, the mobile communication device 310 may receive configuration data from the server processing system 340. The server processing system 340 may be a cloud server. The configuration data may include data regarding the configuration of one or more communication systems 306 associated with one or more restricted areas. In particular, the configuration data may include a unique device identity (such as a globally unique identifier, MAC address, etc.) and associated identity of the restricted area (i.e., the identity of the parking lot, etc.) for each ingress and egress communication device, calibration data (such as transmission characteristics of each ingress and egress communication device), and one side of the vehicle path in which each communication device is located. The computer program 308 may configure the mobile communication device 310 to update the configuration data from time to time. The configuration data may be pushed to the cloud server 340 or pulled from the cloud server 340 by the mobile communication device 310. Thus, if a particular communication system 306 is reconfigured thereby changing various transmission characteristics of the particular communication system 306 for a restricted area, the configuration data may be changed at the cloud server 340, where each mobile communication device 310 obtains the changed configuration data in a timely manner (e.g., within 6 hours).

The

systems

302, 1302, 1402 are advantageous when the mobile communication device 310 communicates an entry/exit request to the local communication system 306 using a short-range wireless communication network. Thus, the user does not need internet access to be able to enter or exit the restricted area. However, in a variation of the

systems

302, 1302, 1402, the entry request and exit request may alternatively be communicated to the server processing system 340 for processing via a WAN, such as the internet. An example of a system arrangement 1502 is shown in FIG. 15. It will be appreciated that some restricted areas (e.g., underground parking lots) may not be appropriate for such a configuration. However, to the extent it is appropriate for the mobile communication device 310 to be able to access the internet using the mobile communication device, the server processing system 340 can be configured to process a received entry or exit request based on data stored in the data store 342 to determine the validity of the request. In response to a positive verification, the server processing system 340 may communicate a command to the access control processing system 312 of the access control system 1504 to actuate the respective entry/exit control component 318, 320 (i.e., gate, etc.) to allow the user to enter or exit the restricted area. In some cases, the ingress/egress control component 318/320 may be more complex and may receive data directly from the server processing system 340.

Systems

1502 and 1504 operate together to form system 1500.

It will be appreciated that although the previous example has shown a single server processing system 340, it is possible that the server processing system may comprise a distributed server processing system comprising a plurality of server processing systems.

It will be appreciated that although in the previous example, the entry point microcontroller 338 and the exit point microcontroller 358 are not directly connected to the access control processing system 312 (rather than indirectly via the ticket machine 314 and the ticket reader 316), the system 300 may be modified such that the entry point microcontroller and the exit point microcontroller may be configured to be directly connected to the access control processing system via a communication medium, such as via a data cable (e.g., a network cable), such that direct communication may occur between the respective processing systems.

In the example described above, no user interaction with the mobile communication device 310 is required in order to generate and communicate an entry request or an exit request. However, in certain variations on these examples, the mobile communication device 310 may be configured by the computer program 308 to allow a user to interact with a user interface of the computer program presented via a display of the mobile communication device in order to generate and communicate an entry request or an exit request. In some examples, analysis of the received signal strength of the entry and exit signals is unnecessary because the user simply interacts with the interface when they are ready to enter or exit the restricted area. However, in other examples, analysis of the received signal strength of the entry and exit signals may be used by the mobile communication device to enable a portion of the interface that is normally disabled. In particular, a portion of the interface of the computer program 308, such as a button, is disabled before the entry point or exit point of the restricted area is approached. The mobile communication device 310 is configured by a computer program to analyze received signal strength as discussed in the previous example above. When the mobile communication device 310 determines that one or more entry or exit criteria have been met, the computer program 308 enables a button of the interface so that the user can then select the button to instruct the mobile communication device to generate and pass an entry or exit request. This configuration reduces the risk of a user queued at an entry point or exit point interacting with the computer program 308 to generate and pass any entry or exit requests, which in effect allows a different user at the front in the queue to enter or exit the restricted area.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications are possible within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a communication system; and

a mobile communication device associated with an entity, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to:

receiving one or more incoming signals from the communication system when the entity is near an entry point of a restricted area;

determining a received signal strength of the one or more incoming signals;

determining whether one or more entry criteria have been met based on the received signal strength of the one or more entry signals to generate and communicate an entry request;

in response to satisfying the one or more entry criteria, generating and communicating the entry request to the communication system;

receiving authorization data from the communication system indicating that the entity is granted access by an access control system to access the restricted area;

receiving one or more exit signals from the communication system when the entity is near an exit point of the restricted area;

determining a received signal strength of the one or more exit signals;

determining whether one or more exit criteria have been met based on the received signal strengths of the one or more exit signals to generate and communicate an exit request; and

in response to the one or more exit criteria being met, generating and communicating to the communication system the exit request indicating authorization data to exit the restricted area.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication system comprises at least one of:

a first ingress communication device comprising a first directional antenna to define a focused ingress signal transmission zone, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to generate and communicate the ingress request in response to determining that at least some of the one or more ingress signals satisfy the one or more ingress criteria indicative of the focused ingress signal transmission zone; and

a first exit communication device comprising a second directional antenna to define a focused exit signal transmission zone, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to generate and communicate the exit request in response to determining that at least some of the one or more exit signals satisfy the one or more exit criteria indicative of the focused exit signal transmission zone.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the directional antenna of at least one of the first ingress communication device and the first egress communication device is a parabolic antenna.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises a server processing system and a data store accessed by the access control system, wherein:

the server processing system is configured to:

generating key data associated with the entity;

passing the key data to the mobile communication device for storage in memory; and

storing the key data in the data store;

wherein each entry and exit request generated by the mobile communication device indicates a key from the key data, wherein a door control processing system of the door control system uses the key to query the data store to verify the validity of the entry request or the exit request.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein at least one of the entry request and the exit request indicates an entity identity and a hashed entity identity to enable the access control system to verify validity of the entry request and the exit request based on the data store and device-specific information for the mobile communication device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein prior to receiving the one or more incoming signals, the mobile communication device is configured to:

detecting, using a location receiver, an area crossing event defined for the restricted area; and

in response to detecting the boundary crossing event, launching the computer program if the computer program is turned off, wherein the computer program configures the mobile communication device to monitor a list of registered transmission regions of the communication system.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the restricted area is one of:

a motor vehicle parking zone, wherein the entity is a user associated with a vehicle parked within the motor vehicle parking zone; and

a portion of a building, wherein the entity is a user attempting to access a portion of the building.

8. A system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein at least one of the entry request and the exit request generated by the mobile communications device is indicative of one or more wireless devices to which the mobile communications device is currently connected, wherein if the communications system receives data indicative of a plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests received from a plurality of mobile communications devices, the one or more connected wireless devices indicated by at least one of the entry request or exit request are used to at least partially determine which entry or exit request from the plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests to process.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication system comprises at least one of:

a set of portal transmitters comprising a first portal transmitter and a second portal transmitter, each portal transmitter being offset in position relative to a center of an incoming path and located on opposite sides of the incoming path; and

a set of exit transmitters comprising a first exit transmitter and a second exit transmitter, each exit transmitter being offset in position relative to a center of an exit path and located on opposite sides of the exit path;

at least one of the entry request and the exit request generated by the mobile communication device indicates a relative location of the mobile communication device within the vehicle based on the received signal strength of the one or more entry signals or the one or more exit signals generated by the set of entry or exit transmitters, wherein if the communication system receives a plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests from a plurality of mobile communication devices, the relative location is used to at least partially determine which of the plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests to process.

10. The system of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the communication system comprises at least one of:

wherein at least one of the entry request and the exit request generated by the mobile communication device indicates a relative location of the mobile communication device within the vehicle based on the received signal strength of the one or more entry signals or the one or more exit signals generated by the set of entry or exit transmitters, wherein if the communication system receives a plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests from a plurality of mobile communication devices, the relative location is used to at least partially determine which of the plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests to process.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the entry request and the exit request generated by the mobile communication device indicates one or more wireless devices to which the mobile communication device is currently connected, wherein if the communication system receives data indicating a plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests received from a plurality of mobile communication devices, the one or more connected wireless devices indicated by at least one of the entry request or exit request are used to at least partially determine which entry or exit request from the plurality of substantially simultaneous entry or exit requests to process.

12. The system of claim 3, wherein the communication system comprises at least one of:

an ingress transmitter configured to transmit one or more further incoming signals; and

an egress transmitter configured to transmit one or more further exit signals;

wherein the mobile communication device is configured to:

determining a scaling value based on a peak power of the received further entry or exit signal; and

determining one or more scaled power values for the one or more received entry or exit signals;

wherein the one or more entry or exit criteria indicate that a rate of increase of one or more scaled power values of at least some of the one or more received entry or exit signals equals or exceeds a rate of increase threshold.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to automatically communicate at least one of the entry request and the exit request without user interaction.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises a server processing system, wherein the server processing system is configured to communicate configuration data defining the entry criteria and the exit criteria to the mobile communication device.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to create a communication session with the communication system when communicating the entry and exit requests, wherein the communication system is configured to conduct only a single communication session at a time.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to:

receiving input from the user to communicate the authorisation data to a second mobile communication device;

communicating the authorization data to the second communication device via a server processing system; and

wherein the server processing system notifies the access control system of the transfer of the authorization data to the second mobile communication device.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to determine a rate of increase related to the received signal strength of an entry signal and an exit signal, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to determine at least one of:

determining whether the entry criteria are met based on the rate of increase of the received signal strength of the entry signal; and

determining whether the exit criteria are met based on the rate of increase of the received signal strength of the exit signal.